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Church & State

High Court Rejects Request For Review Of Pledge Case

October2004AU Bulletin

The U.S .Supreme Court in late August refused to reconsider its decision in the Pledge of Allegiance case.

In a ruling handed down in early summer, the high court dismissed on technical grounds a church-state challenge to the use of “under God” in public school Pledge recitations. California phy­s­i­cian Michael Newdow brought the lawsuit on behalf of his daughter, a public school student. But Newdow has only partial cus­tody of the girl, and the court was able to sidestep the constitutional issue by finding that Newdow did not have standing to sue.

Shortly after the ruling, Newdow filed a petition asking the justices to review their decision in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow. He argued that the high court should not have invalidated his challenge based on his custody situation.

On Aug. 23, the court rejected without comment Newdow’s petition for rehearing, the Religion News Service reported. Because the high court did not rule on the constitutionality of requiring public school students to recite the Pledge, other parents with full custody of their children could bring a similar suit.